Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
A happy ending--but could have ended MUCH differently--
(from Facebook--do not have link to original news story)
An 11-year-old boy struck a burglar on the head with a machete after the man broke into his home. He later said he would be prepared to do it again if the burglar's two accomplices returned.
On the morning of 14 June 2019, Braydon Smith was at his family's home in Mebane, North Carolina, when three people arrived to rob the house.
A woman knocked on the front door as a man broke in through a window, while a third waited outside by a car.
Braydon's mother was on the phone with him at the time and heard it all unfold.
The intruder found a pellet rifle belonging to the homeowner and forced Braydon into a bedroom closet at gunpoint.
He then went into the living room and began stealing electronics.
This was his mistake. When the intruder briefly turned away, Braydon seized his moment: "He found my phone on the counter and he took the phone but he dropped it, and that's when I picked up my machete and hit him in the back of the head."
The intruder retaliated, kicking the boy in the stomach, then in the side of the head. Braydon swung again and missed.
But the man was now bleeding heavily from the machete wound. He dropped the stolen items and fled with his accomplices.
The suspect, 19-year-old Jataveon Dashawn Hall, turned up at a hospital with a serious head wound, then escaped the ward in a hospital gown and socks, slipping out while staff weren't watching.
He was eventually caught at his mother's apartment in Burlington after an anonymous tip, placed under a $100,000 bond, and charged with breaking and entering, second-degree kidnapping, and assault on a child under 12.
Braydon later explained that his father had taught him exactly what to do if someone broke in, a lesson that came from a previous burglary at the same house years earlier.
His father's advice was simple: “If they come in the door, you let them have it."
Braydon's message to the intruder was equally straightforward: "You shouldn't have done what you've done. You're better off to get a job than breaking into other people's houses."
(from Facebook--do not have link to original news story)
An 11-year-old boy struck a burglar on the head with a machete after the man broke into his home. He later said he would be prepared to do it again if the burglar's two accomplices returned.
On the morning of 14 June 2019, Braydon Smith was at his family's home in Mebane, North Carolina, when three people arrived to rob the house.
A woman knocked on the front door as a man broke in through a window, while a third waited outside by a car.
Braydon's mother was on the phone with him at the time and heard it all unfold.
The intruder found a pellet rifle belonging to the homeowner and forced Braydon into a bedroom closet at gunpoint.
He then went into the living room and began stealing electronics.
This was his mistake. When the intruder briefly turned away, Braydon seized his moment: "He found my phone on the counter and he took the phone but he dropped it, and that's when I picked up my machete and hit him in the back of the head."
The intruder retaliated, kicking the boy in the stomach, then in the side of the head. Braydon swung again and missed.
But the man was now bleeding heavily from the machete wound. He dropped the stolen items and fled with his accomplices.
The suspect, 19-year-old Jataveon Dashawn Hall, turned up at a hospital with a serious head wound, then escaped the ward in a hospital gown and socks, slipping out while staff weren't watching.
He was eventually caught at his mother's apartment in Burlington after an anonymous tip, placed under a $100,000 bond, and charged with breaking and entering, second-degree kidnapping, and assault on a child under 12.
Braydon later explained that his father had taught him exactly what to do if someone broke in, a lesson that came from a previous burglary at the same house years earlier.
His father's advice was simple: “If they come in the door, you let them have it."
Braydon's message to the intruder was equally straightforward: "You shouldn't have done what you've done. You're better off to get a job than breaking into other people's houses."
